Democratic leader praises Brown

From NBC's Luke RussertMajority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) became the latest high profile Democrat to praise Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA) for his vote in favor of cloture on the Democrats $15 billion dollar job bill.

"The focus will be on jobs, as you have seen," Hoyer said. "We are starting with jobs in the Senate. Hopefully that bill will move over to us. We passed a bill in December, as you know.

"Last night, the Senate took a major step, five Republicans voted to move forward on jobs; I think that's a good sign. I was interested to see the new senator, who theoretically was going to put in a monkey wrench, did the opposite -- he facilitated moving ahead. I hope that continues, and I think that's appropriate."

Brown has come under criticism from the right for his vote. One has to believe more comments from high-profile Democrats will only hurt Brown's standing among die-hard conservatives.